Page 34 of A Second Dawn
“You need to drive to Montreal. My niece studies there,” Carl says, getting the conversation back on track.
“She’s got my brother’s RV, which is equipped with everything you guys need to get to the Rockies. You can overnight anywhere without leaving a trace.”
“Don’t you need a car to pull an RV?” I ask.
“You’re thinking of the trailers. This one is a motor home. It’s not huge, but it will get you to the other side of the country.”
Sounds like fun. I’ve always wanted to take a trip in one of those, but Rhia is a little snobby and likes staying at fancy places.
“There’s also going to be a bag with money,” Carl continues. “And a new credit card under one of your pseudonyms, Aiden. Only use it if absolutely necessary.
“I’ve had a guy take out the satellite navigation so you’re not trackable. My niece will stack the RV with food, so you’re good to go as soon as you get there. I’ll send through the pickup address.
“You’ll need to get yourselves warm clothes. Do this as soon as you see a shop and use the company card. If for any reason they trace it, it’s still nowhere near your destination, and if they hack into any camera footage, they’ll only see the old car.”
Seems Carl has thought of everything. But I shouldn’t be surprised, he’s the head of a security company. It’s what they do.
“Any news on how De Marco found Ella?” Aiden asks, a deep frown grooved into his forehead. This is troubling him.
“No. We checked all our systems. His hacker has only been where we wanted him to go. He wasn’t able to breach anything else. At this stage, my answer is facial recognition software. Though when we tested photos and videos of Ella with her new look, they didn’t get triggered.”
“Keep looking. We need to know,” Aiden insists. “If there’s a hole in our approach, we need to plug it.”
“Agreed. I’ll let you know when we find something. Until we know how De Marco got the information, we need to limit our contact even through our secured channels.”
“Understood. I’ll only be in touch if I need to.”
Aiden and Carl wrap up their call, and with a goodbye to us, he hangs up.
“A motor home. What fun we shall have,” Claudette says cheerily from the back.
“I’m definitely too young to travel in an RV,” Aiden says, grinning.
“Why is that?” Claudette asks.
“Because the average age of an RV owner is forty-nine.”
“Naaa… just see it as being ahead of the game. Just imagine the experience and knowledge you can impart to your friends when you all get to that age and they just get their first RV,” I tease.
“Makes me sound ancient already. You know, you’re not that much younger than me,” he replies, elbowing me playfully.
“Every year counts,” I smirk. “Especially when you get to that age. I’ll always be lagging behind you.” Aiden growls at me… yes, growls. It only makes me laugh harder.
“Don’t talk age around me, you babies,” Claudette joins in. At thirty-six, she is only five years older than Ade.
“Anyway, how far is it to Montreal?” she asks, changing the subject.
“I should ask you that question,” Aiden replies. “You’re the one with the map.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Rustling comes from the back seat where Claudette is unfolding the paper map.
“I estimate another eight to nine hours of driving,” she eventually says.
“How about we don’t stop to sleep but take turns driving through the night?” Aiden suggests.
Claudette and I both agree, eager to put as much distance between us and Halifax as we can.